When Covid caused the demise of human resources and recruitment business Human Connections Group in 2020, Emily Wheeldon thought her days in recruitment were over.
But now she is back, with a slight change in focus, co-founding what she describes as New Zealand’s first ethical recruitment company.
Ms Wheeldon has spent two decades in recruitment, including establishing Human Connections Group in Dunedin in 2013.
The financial impact of the global pandemic took it from its best year to its worse in less than six months.
From there she took about three months to reflect on what she really wanted to do and what her purpose was when it came to her career.
She got a contract with mobile counselling service for children ChatBus but it closed early last year due to lack of funding.
What she did discover was how "awesome" it was to work for a not-for-profit organisation.
Then her old boss from the recruitment company she previously managed in Sydney called and asked if she wanted to do some work for its not-for-profit division.
She did that for five months with her now business partner Natalie Wilson, recruiting Australia-wide for charities.
In the end, it was like a full-time role which was "too much" and the different time zones also proved difficult.
The pair got talking about whether there was a recruitment company in New Zealand that specialised in affordable recruitment for not-for-profits. And that was where the idea for Purposeful Work was born.
They did their research and spoke to organisations; every chief executive they spoke to said there was an "absolute need" for an affordable specialised recruitment service for the charitable sector.
"We realised it was a thing," Ms Wheeldon said.
The business was now in full start-up mode which was expected to continue for at least the next year.
At this stage, the business was funded solely by Ms Wheeldon and Ms Wilson; they would only draw wages once it reached a certain point.
It was a different kind of recruitment to what she had previously been doing; it was dealing with "a pretty special kind of people".
It was meaningful, purposeful and impactful work, which was a "pretty joyous experience", she said.
After her break from recruitment, Ms Wheeldon said she realised she still enjoyed it and was good at it.
But she did not want to "go back to the corporate grind".
Purposeful Work was being built around their lives, rather than the other way around.
She still worked part-time hours and was able to do school pick-ups and drop-offs.
Since Covid, Ms Wheeldon believed people were realising the importance of kindness, giving back and supporting each other, and was reflected in people’s work choices.
Many people had reassessed their work situations and were moving from the corporate to non-profit sector and pursuing meaningful work.
There were both pros and cons; the salaries were not comparable but it was capturing people at a point in their career and life "where money isn’t absolutely everything".
"Their drivers for why they want to work for NFPs [not-for-profit] are completely different," she said.
New Zealand had the most number of charities per capita in the world.
Although Purposeful Work was not a charitable organisation, it would give a percentage of its annual net profit back to its charitable clients, creating "a cycle of giving".
